


Irreparable Damage

by HunterusHeroicus93



Category: Aaron Stone (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 22:32:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17517059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HunterusHeroicus93/pseuds/HunterusHeroicus93
Summary: After Aaron and the team are attacked by Damaged, Aaron is taken to the mutants' secret hideout, where they try to get information about Hall Industries from him.Can Emma and the others find him in time?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in about 8 hours over 2 days, and I couldn't be more proud of it. I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and please don't hesitate to ask me any questions! <3
> 
> Also, special thanks to ThatOneWriter15 for the amazing feedback, and giving me the courage to post this story here.  
> Go check out her work, it's fantastic! <3

The force of being knocked backwards through at least five concrete walls should have knocked Aaron out, but somehow, he was still conscious. Barely. Dazed, he tried to stand, but his legs failed him. As he lay on the floor, panting and groaning, he felt himself being pulled forwards. He tried to grab onto something, anything that would ground him, but there was nothing solid within reach. A second later, he crashed through an invisible wall, like the one he had seen General Cross disappear through earlier, and landed hard on the other side. Two pairs of hands grabbed him, and dragged him backwards towards a large cage, throwing him inside and bolting the door.   
  
“Hey,” Aaron groaned. “Let me go.”   
  
There was laughter, and a face appeared next to his. It was the mutant who’d thrown him around using his telekinesis – Damaged.   
  
“I don’t think so, boy,” Damaged sneered. “You’re going to stay with us for a while.”   
  
Aaron tried to respond, but he couldn’t move his lips. His concussion finally took over, and he slumped backwards into darkness.   
  
\------   
  
STAN paced Mr Hall’s office, complaining that Aaron should have returned by now. The doors slid open, and STAN looked up hopefully, but sighed when Emma entered. “Oh, it’s you.”   
  
“Sorry to disappoint,” Emma said.   
  
“I didn’t mean that,” STAN started to explain, but Emma stopped him.   
  
“I know, you’re waiting for Aaron. So am I. Where is he, anyway? He’s been gone for hours.”   
  
“We have received no communications from him since we left him in the lab,” Mr Hall said. “We should send out a team to look for him.”   
  
“He’ll be back soon, I’m sure of it. Aaron always comes back,” Emma said, not quite believing herself. She silently scolded herself for leaving Aaron alone with the psychopath who had attacked them.   
  
\------   
  
Aaron came to  tied  to a chair. The first thing he noticed was that he was cold. His X5s had been removed, along with his gloves, jacket, and more importantly, his gauntlet. He tried to yell, but his throat was sore. He coughed, then tried again.   
  
“Hello?!”   
  
No answer. He didn’t expect one. The mutants didn’t seem the hospitable type.   
  
“Let me go, you  freaks !” His voice echoed around the large room, but still, nobody seemed to hear him. He tried to stretch, and every muscle in his body screamed in agony. His fingers and toes had gone numb from the cold and tightness of the ropes holding him down.   
  
_ These guys aren’t messing around_, Aaron thought. He pulled at one of the ropes, but it didn’t budge.  _Someone got a Scout badge in knot-tying_.   
  
A door at the far end of the room opened with a clang, and Damaged entered, followed closely by a tall man dragging a length of chain behind him.   
  
“Nice of you to  rejoin  us, Aaron Stone,” the masked mutant growled.   
  
“Yeah, well, I wanted to be awake when the rescue party arrived,” Aaron smirked.   
  
The man with the chains grinned. “No one’s coming for you, boy,” he snarled.   
  
“We’ll see about that,” Aaron said with a smile.   
  
“Enough,” said Damaged. “We came here to get information, not chat about your feelings. Shackles, get him ready.”   
  
Aaron swallowed nervously. Shackles wrapped his chain around Aaron’s waist to ensure he didn’t try to escape, then untied his feet and wrists from the chair, before binding his hands together. He pushed Aaron forwards out of the room. Aaron vaguely wondered where they were going, but he didn’t have long to find out. They appeared in another, smaller room, with a metal table covered with all manner of sinister-looking tools, and a series of hooks hanging from the ceiling. Aaron felt uneasy, and somewhat vulnerable without his jacket and shoes. He shivered uncomfortably.   
  
“Scared, boy?” Shackles laughed, shoving Aaron forwards hard. Aaron stumbled, but managed to stay upright.   
  
“Oh, no, not all. This looks like great fun,” Aaron said, rolling his eyes. On the inside, he was terrified, but he figured if he could maintain his outward appearance, he could handle whatever they threw at him.


	2. Chapter 2

Two hours later, Emma was getting antsy. She kept pulling out her blaster and checking the charge on it, and flipping open her phone to see if she had any messages from Aaron. Nothing so far. She groaned loudly, and flung herself back onto her bed. She hated feeling so helpless, but Mr Hall had told her to go home and keep an eye on Charlie’s house, to see if he had come home, or if anyone else had seen him. Jason was over at Freddie’s house, so he hadn’t been home all day, and Mrs Landers was still at work. The house was completely silent. STAN had stayed behind with Mr Hall to help locate Aaron and organise a team to search for him.   
  
\------   
  
Aaron thought his throat would explode from overexertion as he screamed, Shackles’ chains whipping against his torso over and over again as he hung from the hooks by his wrists. By now he was wishing they would just kill him and get it over with, but he still hadn’t told them what they wanted to know, so he knew they would keep him alive until he did.   
  
There was a brief respite from the pain as Damaged took hold of his chin and forced him to look up. Blood flowed from his lips and spattered his bare feet, and he coughed. He glared at Damaged, wanting to spit the blood at him, but he knew that would just earn him more punishment, so he kept still.   
  
“Where is Hall?” Damaged asked for the tenth time.   
  
“I don’t... know,” Aaron gasped. “He moves... all the time.”   
  
“But you were with him today, yes?”   
  
Aaron nodded.   
  
“So, you must know where he was last. And you will tell us. No matter how long it takes.” Damaged stepped back, and nodded at Shackles. Aaron shut his eyes and braced himself.   
  
While Shackles was having fun with his new toy, Damaged pulled out a battered, old phone, and snapped some photos. He ordered Shackles to continue until he returned, and disappeared to his lab, where the rest of the mutants were waiting. They chattered excitedly about what they would do to Aaron if they got the chance.   
  
“I’m  gonna  pump him so full of electricity he’ll be able to power a whole block!” Galapagos squealed.   
  
“I’ll use my venom to turn him into a mutant and make him do whatever I want!” Hive cackled.   
  
The other mutants cheered and laughed at the thought of the great Aaron Stone becoming a mindless insect under their control.   
  
Damaged entered, and they all fell silent. He handed the phone to Hive.   
  
“Send these pictures to Hall. I want him to see what happens when he avoids us.”   
  
Hive nodded, and plugged the phone into the computer.   
  
“I’m going back to check on our guest. Galapagos, come with me and take over from Shackles. He’s earned a break.”   
  
Galapagos rubbed his hands together in glee, and small bolts of electricity ran between his fingers.   
  
\------   
  
Emma sped into Mr Hall’s office as fast as she could, nearly sliding into his desk as she fought to stop herself. STAN steadied her.   
  
“Thanks, STAN,” she said breathlessly. “What’s happening? Mr Hall said there was news about Aaron.”   
  
“Yes,” Mr Hall said. “We have received a series of photographs. We’re assuming they’re from the mutants of Sector 21. They have Aaron.”   
  
“Let me see,” Emma demanded.   
  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mr Hall said softly.   
  
“Let. Me. See.” Emma growled.   
  
Mr Hall sighed, but turned his computer screen around. The picture was dark, so she couldn’t make it out at first, but eventually detail started to come through, and her stomach flipped. Aaron hung from hooks, beaten black and bloody, his torso covered in cuts and bruises. Emma turned away and forced down the bile that was rising in her throat. Mr Hall spun his computer back around and closed down the image file.   
  
“We did try to warn you, Emma,” STAN pointed out.   
  
Emma shook her head. “I know. I’m okay. We have to find him, and fast. They’re going to kill him.”   
  
“They want information on me,” Mr Hall said. “By the looks of it, he hasn’t given it up yet. They will keep him alive until he does.”   
  
“If they don’t kill him intentionally, he’ll die of his injuries anyway!” Emma snapped.   
  
“STAN, take Emma home. I’ll have a team analyse the photos and try to find out where they came from. I’ll call you when we have something.”   
  
STAN nodded, and escorted a squirming Emma out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Aaron didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious, but he did know that it wasn’t long enough for any of the pain to subside. He wished he were allowed to sleep, but Galapagos was having far too much fun zapping him whenever he drifted off.   
  
“Please...” Aaron moaned. “Please, stop...”   
  
“ Uhh , no, I don’t think I will,” Galapagos said cheerfully, hitting Aaron squarely in the shoulder with a bolt. “But maybe I’ll go easy on you if you tell me where Mr Hall is hiding.” He shot another bolt at Aaron, laughing when it hit his chest and winded him. Aaron gasped for breath, pain shooting through every inch of his body. He felt himself slipping into unconsciousness again, but this time he fought against it.   
  
“He’s...” he wheezed, glaring directly at Galapagos. “... up your ass.” He grinned at the mutant dwarf, knowing he’d pay dearly for that, but unable to stop himself feeling satisfied at the look of anger and hatred in his eyes.   
  
Galapagos roared, and unleashed a torrent of electricity into Aaron, forcing it through every pore of the boy’s broken body. Aaron screamed harder than he had before.   
  
\------   
  
Emma jolted awake as she heard a car pulling into Charlie’s driveway.  _Oh no, _she thought.  _Charlie’s mom’s home. _   
  
She scrambled off her bed and went to her window. She spotted Mrs Landers climbing out of her car and heading towards the house.   
  
“Charlie?” she called as she opened the front door. “Jason?” She placed her keys on the side table in the hallway and looked into the living room. It seemed nobody was home. She wandered into the kitchen, where she bumped into STAN.   
  
“Hello, Mrs Landers,” STAN said politely. “Charlie and Jason aren’t home right now. I believe they’re at their friends’ houses.”   
  
“Oh, I see,” Mrs Landers nodded. “Did they say when they’d be home?”   
  
“I’m afraid they did not, although Charlie did mention something about maybe staying the night.”   
  
“Oh, okay. Thanks, STAN.” Mrs Landers went about tidying the kitchen, while STAN went upstairs to Charlie’s room. He assumed Emma would be listening to every word.   
  
Opening the bedroom door, he saw that he was right. Emma was standing near the window, looking pale.   
  
“What are we going to do?” she whispered. “She’s going to notice when Charlie doesn’t come home tomorrow. We have to tell her.”   
  
“Telling her would cause all kinds of complications for us and for Charlie,” STAN explained. “She would have to know who he really is, and who we are, and all about Hall Industries and  Hero Rising.  She and Jason would become a target for the mutants.”   
  
“I know, STAN,” Emma groaned. "But we have to tell her  _something_.”   
  
STAN nodded. “We’ll think of something tonight, that is, if we don’t find Charlie first.”   
  
Emma sighed. “Maybe Vas and Ram can help.” She crossed back over to her bedroom and plugged in her headset. Vas and Ram were already online, of course, so she hopped into their game and spoke quickly.   
  
“Vas, Ram, listen. Aaron has been captured by the mutants that attacked us this morning. They sent Mr Hall photos. It’s bad, guys. We need your help.”   
  
There was gasps from the other end, and both brothers exclaimed “ _What?_ ”  at the same time.   
  
“Captured?” Ram repeated.   
  
“But Aaron Stone never gets caught,” Vas said in disbelief.   
  
“This time, he did. The leader of the mutants is pretty powerful.” Emma hesitated. “It’s Damaged.”   
  
“Oh, no,” Vas moaned. “He is way hard to beat.”   
  
“We’ll look into it, Emma,” Ram said. “What do you want us to do?”   
  
\------   
  
Mr Hall’s computer beeped, and Emma’s voice came through.   
  
“Hello, Emma,” Mr Hall said, as stoic as ever. “My team have not managed to locate the origin of the photographs yet. The computer they were sent from is well protected.”   
  
“I’ve got Vas and Ram on it, Sir,” Emma explained. “They hacked into Cerebella’s computer once. They can find Aaron.”   
  
“I have faith in you, Emma, and if you trust them to complete this task, then so do I,” Mr Hall said. “Good luck."   
  
“Thank you, Sir.” Emma hesitated, then asked, “Mr Hall, what are we going to tell Charlie’s mom? And Jason? They’re going to be worried, and if he turns up hurt, or worse, I -”   
  
“Emma,” Me Hall interrupted. “It will be all right. We’ll find him, we’ll help him get better, and he can return to his family. We will not have to tell them anything.”   
  
Emma bit her lip, then nodded. She still wasn’t sure, but she trusted Mr Hall. “Okay, Sir.” She hung up, then crossed back over to Charlie’s room. She looked around for a minute, staring at each school trophy he’d won, his computer desk, his basketball laying on top of a pile of laundry. She couldn’t bear to be without him for one more second. Feeling slightly embarrassed for being so girly, she lay down on his bed, hugged his pillow tightly, and cried until she fell asleep.   
  
Several hours later, STAN was shaking her awake. She shot up, in full defence mode, but relaxed when she saw the android’s familiar face. “What’s going on, STAN?”   
  
“I have received a message from your friends, Vas and Ram. They found the location of the mutants’ hideout.”


	4. The Rescue

The SSJ felt empty and quiet without Aaron’s jokes and teasing comments, but Emma was comforted by the knowledge they were on their way to rescue him. They’d stopped to pick up Mr Hall on the way - he had insisted on joining them – and now they were halfway around the world. She only hoped they got there in time.   
  
Hovering above a copse of trees near the large stone building, they ejected, landing silently on the ground under the cover of the large canopy. They rechecked all of their weapons, readied themselves, and headed towards the facility housing a group of dangerous, super-powered criminals.   
  
\------   
  
Aaron woke to the sound of shouting. He tried to focus, and realised the mutants sounded panicked.   
  
“They’ve broken in!” Hive screamed. “They killed Shackles!”   
  
_Killed_? Aaron thought.  _No, Hall Industries doesn’t kill. It must be someone else. _   
  
He vaguely wondered if they were better or worse than his current captors, but if he was honest, he didn’t care. He just wanted to escape, by whichever means came first. Rescue, or death. Either one seemed fine to him.   
  
Emma’s voice filtered through the sounds of screaming and weapons firing.   
  
“STAN, go and find Aaron! I’ll hold them off!”   
  
Aaron had never been so happy to hear Emma’s bossy, commanding tone. He tried to call out, but his voice was too hoarse. He waited, and then, a few minutes later, the noise stopped. He called again.   
  
“STAN... In... here...” he choked out. He knew they couldn’t hear him, but he kept trying. “Emma... STAN... help me...”   
  
What felt like hours later, three figures crashed through the door.   
  
“Aaron!” Emma ran towards him, throwing her blaster to the ground. She didn’t need it anymore. “STAN, help me get him down.”   
  
STAN produced a pair of bolt cutters, and, with Emma and Hall supporting Aaron’s weight, snapped the length of chain securing Aaron to the ceiling. He dropped to his knees, and Emma helped him lay on his back, cradling his head in her arms.   
  
“Oh, Aaron...” she whimpered, seeing the full extent of the damage that had been done. “It’s okay, you’re safe now. They’re all dead.”   
  
“Dead?” he repeated. His sweet Emma had  _killed? _  For  _him? _   
  
“ Yes, Aaron. Emma destroyed every last one,” Mr Hall confirmed.   
  
Emma’s voice suddenly seemed far away. “We're going to take you home now, Aaron. You’re going to be okay.”   
  
He tried to shake his head, and winced. “Not... Aaron,” he croaked. “Char... lie.”   
  
Emma nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek. “Got it. Charlie.”   
  
Charlie looked up at STAN, and smiled, his teeth stained with blood. “Not so bad... for a robot.”   
  
“I’m an... Never mind. Thank you, Charlie.” STAN returned the smile.   
  
“Mr Hall... I’m sorry... I screwed... up,” Charlie coughed. “I didn’t mean...”   
  
“It’s alright, Aar- Charlie,” Mr Hall said, kneeling beside the teenager. “It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I shouldn’t have left you alone with Damaged.” He touched Charlie’s shoulder gently.   
  
“Emma,” Charlie whispered. “Tell mom... and Jason...”   
  
“That you love them? Tell them yourself, I'm not your messenger,” Emma huffed.   
  
“Please,” Charlie said. “Tell them... I’m sorry. For being a jerk. For not being there. For...” he faltered, his breathing becoming shallow.   
  
“I... love you, Em,” he said quietly. “I wanted to say it... before... but I never...”   
  
Emma smiled through the tears now flowing freely, and held him tightly to her chest.   
  
He didn’t hear her say it back.


	5. The Aftermath.

The journey home seemed to last an age, but finally, they made it to a private hospital, owned by Hall Industries. The staff there all knew about Aaron Stone, of course, and what to do with him. They dressed him in hospital clothes and placed him in a bed, hooked up to all kinds of machines. They did nothing for him, but it was better to look as though they were trying when the family arrived.   
  
Emma called Mrs Landers as soon as they got back, and explained that Charlie had been in a serious car accident, and that she was on her way to pick her and Jason up to drive them to the hospital.   
  
Mrs Landers didn’t stop crying the whole way there, while Jason was more silent than he had ever been in his life.   
  
“I don’t understand,” Mr Landers moaned through her sobs. “He was at a friend's, he said he was staying the night...”   
  
“I’m sorry, Mrs Landers. We’ll get answers when he wakes up.” Emma tried to hide the break in her voice.   
  
They arrived at the hospital to be greeted by a nurse, and Mr Hall, disguised as a doctor.   
  
Mr Hall informed Mrs Landers and Jason that, while they had done everything they could, they had lost Charlie.   
  
Jason turned and walked back out the front doors.   
  
Mrs Landers collapsed to her knees and screamed.   
  
Emma, finally realising what had happened now that it had been said out loud, sank against the wall, and cried until her eyes burned.   
  
Their worlds would never be the same.


End file.
